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Working throughout Bartholomew County to support new families:

Home visit program

In-hospital education

Community presentations

Caring Parents is a home visiting program offering Bartholomew County’s new parents:

Volunteers visit at 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and follow a curriculum designed by local pediatricians. Topics for each visit include infant care, nutrition, crying, home safety and developmental milestones. Home visitors bring gifts, offer encouragement and do developmental screenings to make sure everything is on track; referrals to other agencies can also be made if appropriate. Everything is provided free of charge. To join the program at any time before your child turns 1, call 372-3745.

For information on becoming a home visit volunteer, click here, call372-3745, or send an email.

 

Caring Parents provides crying education to all new moms at Columbus Regional Hospital.

Trained staff visit new moms and give each a copy of Caring Parents' ABC: All Babies Cry book with ideas for coping with infant crying--the main cause of Shaken Baby Syndrome. (One hint is to read to baby; an animal-themed alphabet book runs along the bottom of the pages so parents can start reading right from the start.) Parents are also given information on the Period of PURPLE Crying (colic), baby blues, SIDS, and how to contact Caring Parents with questions and concerns after returning home.

TheABC book may be purchased for new moms who do not deliver at Columbus Regional Hospital; call 314-2953 for information. 

Caring Parents provides community education about infant crying, Shaken Baby and how to cope or help.

By explaining normal infant crying and showing ways to cope, Caring Parents' presentations help people understand how they can help foster positive parent-child relationships within their own and their friends’ families. A segment on ways to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) can also be included. This presentation can be adapted for a variety of audiences and time slots.  For more information, call   372-3745 or send an email.

 

Caring Parents Volunteer Opportunities

 

Make a difference!

        Give back!

              Learn new skills!

                    Handle a challenge!

                                       Feel a sense of accomplishment!

 

If you only have 1-2 hours per month to volunteer, then the Caring Parents program may be an ideal match for you. Caring Parents home volunteers help families grow together in healthy ways. 

The program matches new families with trained volunteers who visit six times during baby’s first year. Volunteers bring gifts, do development screenings, bring information and in general provide a little extra support and encouragement to the new mom and dad. Each visit generally lasts about an hour or so.

Two 3-hour training sessions are required. Prior to the training sessions, potential volunteers are asked to come in for an information interview and to fill out required forms.  Interviews can be set up by calling Carol Dingledy at 372-3745. The process takes about 30 minutes and can generally be scheduled between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Applicants must be 21 years of age, and have a telephone and transportation. Volunteers must be able to travel to and visit with parents in their homes, and be comfortable working with parents in various lifestyles and environments. It is important to have an understanding of parenting and a sincere desire to help parents under stress. Traits of successful Caring Parents volunteers include patience, good listening skills, and comfort in sharing some personal experience.  If you are interested, please call and register for an upcoming training (372-3745), or ask about other volunteer opportunities, such as volunteering for special events (long-term or 1 day) or becoming part of the Action Team.

     

Action Team

The Action Team provides Caring Parents with leadership and guidance for curriculum, programming and operational issues. The members support the mission of Caring Parents and advocate for resources in the community. Members also assist with volunteer recruitment and help support fund-raising efforts. The team meets on an as-needed basis with most work done via phone and email. Call 372-3745 for more information.

 

Other Opportunities

 

 

Help at Special Events: Caring Parents Run/Walk in April; Family Service Family Fest in August; Healthy Communities Mill Race Race in September; Hackman's Market in October; or other opportunities throughout the year. Call 372-3745, or send an email for information.

 

Arrange speaking engagements where Caring Parents can spread the word about caregivers being prepared for infant crying, explaining how to handle it and helping prevent Shaken Baby in Bartholomew County and beyond.

Contact and/or help maintain locations where we can sell our jewelry (bracelets, charm straps, lanyards and much more) and ABC book.

Donate--just about anything! Monetary donations are always appreciated, but we use homemade burp cloths and tummy time blankets, board books, and sleep sacks for the babies and beauty items for moms or training classes, for example. If you aren't certain whether we can use something, call 372-3745, or send an email. Currently, we are especially looking for the following items:

* Stacking/sorting toys for 1-year-olds

* Burp cloths (patterns available), a popular 2-month gift

* Rolling suitcase/backpack to carry presentation/display materials

* Literature stands

* Volunteers to do fundraisers to purchase health/safety gifts for families

Thank you for your support. With your help, we will continue to work at keeping the number of cases of Shaken Baby at ZERO in Bartholomew County. (Bartholomew County has not had a single case of Shaken Baby since Caring Parents started it's crying education program in 2003.)

 

Caring Parents : Location and Hours

Location:
806 Jackson St.
Columbus, Indiana 47201
812/372-3745

Office Hours:
Monday- Friday
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.